Students will research the art of totems through a WebQuest of online resources to learn about the story and symbolism behind these sculptures (see supplemental links below).
Their WebQuest findings and the explanation of their chosen symbol will be displayed using Glogster, a multimedia poster that will show students’ knowledge and creativity.
Curriculum Standard(s): Art (grade 8)
1. Explain how social, cultural and political factors affect what artists, architects, and designers create. 2. Discuss the role and function of art objects within cultures. 3. Identify artworks that make a social or political comment and explain the messages they convey.
ISTE NETS for Students
1. Creativity and Innovation: a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
Description:
The lesson will focus on students learning the history of traditional Native American totem pole carving. A series of questions will accompany the WebQuest, allowing them to record details and descriptions about the carving and story that is told. From this WebQuest and online learning, students will choose one symbol which best represents them to carve.
They will complete a soap carving of this symbol with given utensils and create a Glogster poster to share their research and personal symbol. Within this Glogster poster they will also convey the message that the art form of totem poles sends about the Tlingit Indians and their culture in the Northwest. They will choose one of the totem poles from the WebQuest to explain and analyze within their glog.
Supporting Research:
Artists, like researchers, create new knowledge through studio practice. Artists, educators, and cultural objects are significant contributors to our evolution, and their contributions should be cultivated in art education models that integrate arts-technology experimentation and create new spaces for self-directed interdisciplinary inquiry (Mayo 48).
Art educators as teachers, artists, and researchers have an opportunity to utilize this new landscape of digital technology to develop the artist-researchers of tomorrow (Mayo 50).
Last mentioned, but perhaps most important is to introduce digital artworks. These works are rich subjects of discussion and idea generation for students. This is another way to use the Internet since much of this work exists online. The way we interact with artwork is being challenged and opens up new pathways for talking about work and learning. Today's students will continue to challenge art making and create new forms of expression never before envisioned (Mayo 50).
Mayo, S. (2007). Implications for art education in the third millennium: Art technology integration. Art Education, 60(3), 45-51. Retrieved from ERIC.
Tried & True or New & Innovative:
NI: Discovering the artwork of another culture may seem traditional, but carving a personal symbol out of soap and then creating a digital representation of that personal artwork with information about the unique culture to which it's tied makes the activity new and innovative. The incorporation of the glog will allow students to integrate technology while visually displaying what they have created and learned after researching the art of American Indians.
Subject: Art
Technology:
Curriculum Standard(s):
Art (grade 8)
1. Explain how social, cultural and political factors affect what artists, architects, and designers create.
2. Discuss the role and function of art objects within cultures.
3. Identify artworks that make a social or political comment and explain the messages they convey.
ISTE NETS for Students
1. Creativity and Innovation:
a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
Description:
The lesson will focus on students learning the history of traditional Native American totem pole carving. A series of questions will accompany the WebQuest, allowing them to record details and descriptions about the carving and story that is told. From this WebQuest and online learning, students will choose one symbol which best represents them to carve.
They will complete a soap carving of this symbol with given utensils and create a Glogster poster to share their research and personal symbol. Within this Glogster poster they will also convey the message that the art form of totem poles sends about the Tlingit Indians and their culture in the Northwest. They will choose one of the totem poles from the WebQuest to explain and analyze within their glog.
Supporting Research:
Mayo, S. (2007). Implications for art education in the third millennium: Art technology integration. Art Education, 60(3), 45-51. Retrieved from ERIC.
Tried & True or New & Innovative:
Supplemental Resources for Lesson:
Totem Pole Exploration
http://users.imag.net/~sry.jkramer/nativetotems/default.html
Totem Creatures
http://www.totempoles.info/creatures.html
The Art of Carving and Meaning of Colors
http://www.chainsawsculptors.com/totem_poles.htm
Types, Myths, and Video
http://www.nativeonline.com/totem_poles.htm
Glogster
http://glogster.glogster.com/glogster-story/